Recap: Stanford Men’s Basketball edges Minnesota in Palm Desert
On Thanksgiving, Stanford men’s basketball defeated Minnesota 72-68 in the Acrisure Invitational in Palm Desert, California. Stanford freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie led the way for the Cardinal with 25 points and four rebounds on 9-21 shooting from the field and 5-7 shooting from the foul line while senior guard Benny Gealer had 14 points on 4-9 shooting from 3-point range and 2-2 shooting from the foul line. Minnesota junior forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson was the top performer for the Golden Gophers with 23 points and four rebounds. Stanford improves to 5-1 overall while Minnesota falls to 4-3.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Minnesota-Thursday, November 27th
Stanford led Minnesota 6-4 with 15:41 remaining in the half. Ebuka Okorie had completed a nice three-point play for the Cardinal and also made an impressive block as a player attacked the rim. Chisom Okpara had hit a triple for the Cardinal.
Stanford was ahead 13-9 over Minnesota with 11:36 left in the half. Stanford had shot 5-14 from the field; Minnesota had shot 4-9. Okorie was leading Stanford with 5 points.
Minnesota led Stanford 21-14 with 7:03 remaining in the half. Minnesota had gone on an 8-0 run over the previous 2:48. Stanford’s offense had gone cold, shooting 5-23 from the field.
Minnesota was up 32-24 over Stanford with 3:27 left in the half. Cade Tyson and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson each had 10 points for the Gophers. Okorie had 10 points for the Cardinal. Stanford was hanging around, but the Gophers remained in front.
Minnesota was up 34-31 at halftime. Tyson led the Gophers with 12 points and 2 rebounds, while Okorie led Stanford with 13 points on 5-11 shooting. The Cardinal were back in the game.
Stanford was ahead 44-38 with 15:50 to go, bringing good energy out of the tunnel to begin the second half. Okorie had reached 17 points on 7-14 shooting, while Gealer had 10 points on 3-6 from three-point range. The Cardinal had pulled ahead, making good adjustments at halftime.
Stanford led 50-45 with 11:13 left. Stanford had held Minnesota to 3-8 shooting in the second half so far. The Cardinal showed much better defensive intensity. Okorie was up to 18 points for Stanford and was playing exceptionally well.
Stanford was ahead 57-55 with 7:29 to go. Minnesota hung tough despite Stanford’s best efforts to pull away. Okorie had reached 21 points after making a three-pointer from NBA range. He continued to lead the way for the Cardinal.
Stanford led Minnesota 64-60 with 4:44 left. Gealer had 12 points on 4-8 from three-point range. His perimeter shooting had really helped the Cardinal stay in front.
Stanford was up 66-63 with 1:43 to go. Stanford had possession. The Cardinal were trying to close out the game as Ryan Agarwal had grabbed a couple of clutch defensive rebounds.
Stanford led 70-67 with 5.3 seconds remaining. Minnesota had possession. Gealer had just made a pair of free throws for Stanford.
Minnesota was unable to force overtime as Stanford held to win 72-68. Okorie made a pair of free throws to clinch the game for the Cardinal, giving him 25 points for the night.
For Stanford, this was overall a good win. Okorie was sensational, Gealer and Okpara brought enough scoring, and on the glass, Stanford was +11 (36-25). They got down early and could have given up. Instead they kept clawing and got rewarded in the end as they’ll face Saint Louis for the championship on Black Friday (tomorrow).
As for Minnesota, obviously disappointing, but they have to regroup, knowing they have another game tomorrow against a tough Santa Clara team. They can’t let this loss carry over into tomorrow.
Speaking of Stanford’s game against Saint Louis, tipoff is set for 4:00 PM PT on TruTV.
On Saint Louis: Saint Louis is now 6-0 on the season with wins over SE Missouri State, Chicago State, Lindenwood, Grand Canyon, Purdue Fort Wayne, and now Santa Clara.
The Billikens are led by senior big man Robbie Avila a.k.a. Cream Abdul-Jabbar for his use of sports goggles and being a white dude. Sports goggles are rare these days. Avila averages 15.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for his career and averaged 17.3 points and 6.9 rebounds per game last season, so he’s a load down low. Sophomore guard Amari McCottry is averaging 14.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, leading the way in scoring entering the weekend.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Avila and McCottry. Those two guys are a dangerous one-two punch. Stanford has to make sure they don’t allow those guys to get rolling.
Secondly, Stanford needs to avoid dry spells on offense. Having Ebuka Okorie should help a lot with that. But as we saw against Minnesota, Stanford had moments where they went cold and it nearly cost them the game. Fortunately, they snapped out of it and will need to do an even better job of avoiding those dry spells against a better Saint Louis team.
Finally, Ebuka Okorie needs to keep doing his thing. As long as he’s scoring 20+ points, they can hang with a lot of teams. It also helps when guys like Benny Gealer and Chisom Okpara are getting shots to fall as well.
Prediction: I’m gonna pick Stanford to narrowly win 73-72. I think this is a toss-up game, but I’ll give Stanford some love here and pick them to win the trophy. Okorie on paper should be the best player on the floor and that often is what decides close games.
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